The present invention relates to a conferencing system and method. In particular, the invention pertains to a method and system with which a customer may initiate and efficiently moderate and control a telephone call between the customer and one or more additional parties over web-enabled appliances or devices.
The prior art discloses a number of conference calling systems. Many of these prior art systems are enterprise systems that require specialized hardware switching components and/or software running on the systems of call participants. In recent years, web-based conference calling has overcome disadvantages that plagued the prior art systems. These web-based conference calling systems, however, lack some of the advantages of the present invention. In particular, the prior art systems do not provide the flexibility necessary to adapt to the variable demands placed on the systems depending on the number of call participants, fail to utilize pre-existing customer information to expedite the input of call contact information, and fail to provide a means to prevent various hardware devices including facsimile and answering machines from being bridged into a conference call.